This was my second activation of the day, having just left Lovejoy Butte earlier. I parked my small car as far up 136th Street East as I could and walked the short distance to the base of the butte. From here it’s just a short scramble to the top. Once at the summit, I found thousands of red flying ants, the same I’ve seen at other desert summits. I wonder why they like peaks so much? Not wanting to get friendly with them I setup my endfed half wave just off to the side. I had just over an hour before UTC time changed so I worked quickly while I noticed a monsoon coming my way. The the middle of a QSO on 20M, I felt a big fat raindrop, then a few more. I quickly tore my station down, scrambled down the butte and over to the car. By the time I got to the intersection of 136th street and Ave O, the rain was absolutely pouring to the point my wipers couldn’t keep up. Driving around a bit I noted the washes, dry most of the time, were starting to turn into rivers. I stopped at a high point and walked around in the desert to enjoy the rain before heading back to Los Angeles, where it didn’t rain at all.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/ND-334

Download file: Alpine_AG6N.gpx

Date:11/09/2022 | Summit:W6/ND-334 (Alpine Butte)

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
22:58	NT6E	7MHz	CW	S599 R55N
22:59	KE6MT	7MHz	CW	S57N R55N
23:00	K6TUY	7MHz	CW	S55N R5NN
23:05	KN6EZE	7MHz	CW	S599 R599 S2S W6/ND-257
23:06	KR7RK	7MHz	CW	S57N R55N
23:07	KF6HI	7MHz	CW	S58N R549
23:09	N6CVQ	7MHz	CW	S55N R57N
23:10	KN6RDC	7MHz	CW	S51N R52N
23:12	K7EA	7MHz	CW	S53N R53N
23:12	K7GUD	7MHz	CW	S56N R51N
23:13	KD7LX	7MHz	CW	S51N R52N
23:15	WB6POT	7MHz	CW	S57N R57N
23:16	K6CPR	7MHz	CW	S58N R55N
23:17	NA7C	7MHz	CW	S56N R44N
23:20	KK9TT	7MHz	CW	S57N R599
23:30	AF7M	10MHz	CW	S56N R55N
23:31	WW7D	10MHz	CW	S54N R42N
23:43	W4KRN	14MHz	CW	S51N R42N
23:45	VE7HI	14MHz	CW	S51N R33N
23:48	VE7JH	14MHz	CW	S42N R57N S2S VE7/CL-047

I set out from my home in Los Angeles to activate three buttes in the Antelope Valley area. Lovejoy was the first of the day. Of course, I can never get out of the house at a reasonable time so I arrived around noon to my starting point on 145th Street East. It was hotter than I expected but I have a large golf umbrella for days like this, and it proved absolutely critical for both the hike and activation. You can make out a faint use trail up to the summit from the road, and accessing that trail requires navigating various moto trails, deep soft sand, and piles of dumped construction materials. Closer to the top is a faint use trail which goes to the summit. Worked 2M, 40M, 30M CW with a S2S on each band. Worked 20M CW with zero contacts which surprised me. The hike was under two miles but I drank two liters of water. Back at the car I had a snack and more water before heading over to the next butte.

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/ND-323

Download file: Lovejoy.gpx

Date:11/09/2022 | Summit:W6/ND-323 (Lovejoy Buttes)

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
20:33	KB6WWI	144MHz	FM	S56 R53
20:45	KN6TMT	144MHz	FM	S59 R59 S2S W6/SD-141
20:51	NT6E	7MHz	CW	S58N R52N
20:52	KE6MT	7MHz	CW	S57N R55N
20:54	K6HPX	7MHz	CW	S58N R51N
20:56	KR7RK	7MHz	CW	S56N R55N
20:57	WA7JTM	7MHz	CW	S57N R54N
21:08	KD0YOB	10MHz	CW	S33N R33N S2S W0C/PR-093
21:11	AF7M	10MHz	CW	S58N R55N
21:14	KN6EZE	10MHz	CW	S58N R5NN S2S W6/ND-241
21:16	KF6HI	10MHz	CW	S579 R549
21:18	W7DLZ	10MHz	CW	S55N R54N
21:19	AC1Z/0	10MHz	CW	S52N R33N
21:21	N7MQ	10MHz	CW	S56N R52N

The road up to Butler Peak was closed for several years due to a washout, however, repairs were made and the road opened July 4th. I drove my low clearance commuter car from Rim Of The World to Forest Road 2N13, and parked near the gate up to Butler. Hiking up to the summit was enjoyable and offered views not normally seen in the San Gabriel mountain range. Once at the top, the fire lookout volunteer invited me up to the tower for a tour and mentioned I was the only hiker of the day and that everyone else arrived via off-road vehicle. After the tour I climbed around on the rocks just below the tower in search for a place to setup the radio. There isn’t much usable room but I found a place I could put my endfed wire between two rocks. Since I brought my Yaesu 817 I decided to start on 70cm CW, which got me one contact. Moving to 2M FM only got me an additional contact. Moving to HF afforded me the contacts needed to get points. I made it down the mountain and back to the paved road right when it was starting to get dark. Perfect timing!

https://sotl.as/summits/W6/CT-009

Download file: Butler.gpx

Date:20/08/2022 | Summit:W6/CT-009 (Butler Peak)

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
00:08	NT6E	433MHz	CW	S599 R529
00:22	KI6SLA	144MHz	FM	S57 R55
00:45	WA6KYR	7MHz	CW	S58N R58N
00:46	KE6MT	7MHz	CW	S57N R559
00:47	WW7D	7MHz	CW	S52N R31N
00:51	K6TUY	7MHz	CW	S51N R58N
01:01	W6TDX	14MHz	CW	S58N R57N
01:03	AK5SD	14MHz	CW	S56N R41N
01:06	WW7D	14MHz	CW	S57N R55N